I endorse Obama

And no, my name is not Monica :)

I don't think I really can agree with someone who doesn't agree with GW (remember, I always wanted Barbara Bush to adopt me). But I like Obama. Not only can he keep the Clintons out of the Oval office, he can also bring some sparkle back into that great colony in the west. Which republican candidate show such signs of life and energy?

That said, my two cents about the presidential election to come:

The rebublican party is partying tonight. Only two democrats are still in the race and they couldn't ask for a better picture. Neither Mrs. Clinton or Obama will get the large part of the electorate with them (remember you read it here). Thus the doors to the presidency are wide open for a republican candidate. I am not sure that either of the republican candidates deserve to win, nor that they are the good guys they like us to believe. But for the sake of the world order and future peace and security, we need a president who understand the importance of what the current administration has started. It has not been easy and will not be in the future. But it has to be done.

A lot of people will not understand why. As you know, my time is limited and I cannot really go back into that argument again.

On another note, it's been all over the news today:

THE CIA IS DOING SOME MAINTENANCE WORK ON THE INTERNET CABLE THAT IS CONNECTING EUROPE WITH EGYPT, THE MIDDLE EAST AND PART OF ASIA!

Big Pharoah (still love you you know) will agree!
(http://www.bigpharaoh.com)

Hope you are all well. /r

Demonstrators Arrested, Opposition Ready to Resign

Abu Aardvark is reporting that the opposition is prepared to resign en masse to protest the ruling party's constitutional reforms.

The Arabist is reporting from a police clampdown on demonstrators. More than 30 were arrested, bloggers included.

Global Voices has a lenghty report as well, quoting blogger/activist Alaa Abdulfattah and many others.

Says Aardvark:

I've been writing often about the costs of America's abandonment of even the pretence of caring about Arab democracy. These are summed up very well by Amr Hamzawy and Dina Bishara (of Carnegie) today:

The Mubarak regime is taking advantage of an opportune international moment. With Washington's attention diverted from the democracy agenda, the regime can resort to outright repression of the opposition without risking its close ties with the West.... By resorting to outright repression of the Brotherhood, Mubarak is making a mockery of the American push for democracy in the Middle East. Turning a blind eye toward the ongoing crackdown undermines the credibility of an already shaky American commitment to democratization in the Middle East. It also cements the perception among Egyptians that Washington blesses autocratic regimes.

Lawsuit to Block 21 Egyptian Blogs

A lawsuit to block a number of Egyptian websites, including blogs who participated in a discussion about Internet Freedoms, is on its way says Human Rights activists in Egypt.

Judge Abdel Fattah Morad, head of Alexandria Appeal Court, has started a lawsuit against the government in Egypt’s Administrative Courts in order to block a number of Egyptian websites. The list, 21-websites-long, includes the blogs and sites that took part in the discussion around the book the Judge has written, and the wide plagiarism evident in the book copying HRInfo’s report on Internet Freedoms in the Arab World, and a how-to-blog guide written by blogger Bent Masreya.

Read more: The Arabist. Arabawy. via Global Voices.

Also: US Dept. of State Egypt Country Report on Human Right Practices.

Question is, how are they planning to block the websites? Is it access to the blogs who are going to be stopped, or are they also hoping to shut the sites down?

Happy Birthday, Osama bin Laden

– But Shari'a Doesn't Recognize Western Birthday Celebrations. Via Memri.

The London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that tomorrow is Osama bin Laden's 50th birthday. Egyptian Islamist Hani Al-Siba'i, director of the Al-Maqrizi Center in London, said that bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri did not celebrate birthdays because the custom was a Western innovation not recognized by shari'a. He added that the Western media's preoccupation with bin Laden's turning 50 was aimed at provoking him into releasing a new film, which would help them track him down.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, March 9, 2007

Is he really a pious man or could he, as I expect him to, be celebrating his birthday in an orgy of hashish and paid female company?

Read what Jane's weekly and Robert Fisk (gasp) has to say about the bearded man turning 50.

On Gods, Presidents and the Muslim Brotherhood

Oxford Professor Timothy Garthon Ash has visited Egypt and is writing about the presidential succession, Gods, Islamism and the future of Egypt.

Those who take the legitimating religion or ideology too seriously — be it Osirisism or socialism — are missing the point. The gods come and go; what endures over the millenniums is men's lust for power and wealth and their vain quest for immortality.

Changing Gods in Egypt - Los Angeles Times

Did 650,000 Iraqis Die Becuase of the War?

How is it possible that a new report is showing that the number of deaths in Iraq are more than ten times higher than everybody thought?

Because the new report is not true, possibly even a fraud, says the The Times after discussing the issue with the experts who should know and failing to get answers to questions about basics from the authors.

Professor Spagat says the Lancet paper contains misrepresentations of mortality figures suggested by other organisations, an inaccurate graph, the use of the word “casualties” to mean deaths rather than deaths plus injuries, and the perplexing finding that child deaths have fallen. Using the “three-to-one rule” – the idea that for every death, there are three injuries – there should be close to two million Iraqis seeking hospital treatment, which does not tally with hospital reports.

“The authors ignore contrary evidence, cherry-pick and manipulate supporting evidence and evade inconvenient questions,” contends Professor Spagat, who believes the paper was poorly reviewed. “They published a sampling methodology that can overestimate deaths by a wide margin but respond to criticism by claiming that they did not actually follow the procedures that they stated.” The paper had “no scientific standing”. Did he rule out the possibility of fraud? “No.”

Link to article.

Abdel Kareem Sentenced to Four Years

During the five-minute court session the judge said Soliman was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak.

Hafiz Abou Saada of the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation called the sentence "a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance".

- BBC

The 22-year-old former law student, whose own father has disowned him and called for his execution under Islamic law, was sentenced to four years by a court in Alexandria.

- Telegraph

Actually, the Telegraph editor-in-chief will cry when he hear about this misstake in the article:


Also in the news today:

Egypt Nabs Suspected Terrorists

Hundreds of state-security forces and military intelligence personnel launched a search Thursday morning in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula looking for the two Palestinians.

The search began a day after 23 Palestinians and Egyptians were arrested and confessed to plotting a series of attacks against tourists, mainly Israelis in southern Sinai resorts.

Among those arrested was a young Palestinian, wearing an explosives belt, who had entered Egypt illegally at Rafah through an underground tunnel from the Gaza Strip.

A Pyramid for Your Neighbors

This guy in Arizona built a giant pyramid in his own backyard. The neighbours are not happy:

Richard is a dick" became the rallying cry of the neighbors who now sought to have him forcibly removed from the area, his pyramid house reduced to rubble, and his slave labor sent back to wherever slave labor comes from.

If I wanted to see a pyramid in my backyard, I would have moved to ancient Egypt," said angry neighbor Marty Hornchair. "I don't think my wife would ever go for that though, she can really be a bitch sometimes.

Amusing. You tell me if it is true. Link.

Free Kareem Demonstrations, Feb. 15

Demonstrators around the world will protest on February 15th against the continued imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman, a 22-year-old student arrested last November for criticizing the Egyptian government on his personal website. Protests will take place in New York City, London, Rome, Paris, Ottawa, Bucharest, Washington, DC, and a growing number of cities, in hopes of persuading Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against Mr. Soliman, also known by his online handle, Kareem Amer.

Read the full press release.

Miss Mabrouk Enters the New Blogger

Yepp, Blogger finally moved me to the new platform. Shouldn´t be any changes in appearance but if they missed a few posts in the transfer, do let me know! :)

Smile of a President?

If it takes another democrat to stop the former first Lady to become president of the USA, then let us hope this smile is enough to take Barack Obama all the way.

I´m still for Condi, of course. But in a race against Obama she has the additional disadvantage of being a woman. Black president, maybe. Female president, perhaps. Black and female? Just a small possibility. Also, she IS a republican. I hear they are not too popular in the great colony in the west nowadays.

I am still anti Hillary. She is stiff. She is pale. She is in constant pain or else she would be able to put on a natural smile. Her main disadvantage: the luggage from the Clinton presidency. I really do not think the American voters are in for another round of that.

Barack Obama is fresh news. Next to him, Hillary is soooo yesterday.

Also, I am quite positive Cindy Sheehan thinks Hillary is really smart.

Washington Post article: Obama formally launches presidential bid

Honour revenge in Art

Beautiful art by dutch illustrator Irene Maria Jacobs. Click here to see the full picture, it is a story in itself. More art on display over at Verlee's blog and the artist's homepage gallery. The new image in my sidebar portrait field is also borrowed from Irene Maria. Loads of beauty on her site.